Today we celebrate Hollywood icon Faye Dunaway’s birthday – the 45th anniversary of her 39th, as Ronald Reagan would say.
Dunaway, of course, famously played Evelyn Cross-Mulwray in Chinatown (1974). That character was the wife of Hollis Mulwray, based on Irish immigrant William Mullholland (1855-1935). The superintendent and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, he oversaw construction of the hundred-miles-long aqueduct that made possible the building of Los Angeles in the early 1900s. Later came the water wars; it was diverted so land barons could buy land for a fraction of its value. The story is as old as man.
Faye Dunaway has portrayed the deepest human emotions fueling our fiercest drives since the start of her career. After graduating from Boston University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater, Dunaway arrived in New York City in 1962 and joined the Lincoln Center Repertory Company under the tutelage of Elia Kazan. At age 21, she made her Broadway debut in A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt.
She had come a long way.
Early life and eventual conversion
Dorothy Faye Dunaway, of Scottish, Irish, and German descent, was born in Bascom, Florida, to young parents Grace April (née Smith), a housewife, and John MacDowell Dunaway, Jr. Her parents could not keep their marriage together. But she had a mother with fierce discipline and determination for her children’s success, and a brother with a kindly spirit whom she adored. Her father meanwhile tried his best, constantly on the move as an army cook, but he could not get past his alcoholism.
It's not unlike what Jack Lemmon, a cradle Catholic, went through – parental tensions leading to the theater. Then, too, there’s the example of Alec Guinness, who did not even know who his father was and whose mother had them living in constantly shifting venues, fleeing just as the bills came due. Like Dunaway, he turned not only to acting but to the Catholic faith for strength and solace.
Faye Dunaway converted in 1996 and besides her inborn talent and the particular circumstances of her upbringing, her faith is a big ingredient in her success.
“I’ve been a devout Catholic since the beginning of my career,” she told The Today Show’s Kathie Lee Gifford in 2017.
Hollywood star and follower of Christ
Catholicism and a successful acting career are not irreconcilable, of course.
Sometimes it takes time to warm up to full communion with the Church. That was the case with John “Duke” Wayne over several decades. His daughter-in-law Gretchen dubbed him a “cultural Catholic,” as reported in Oasis: Conversion Stories of Hollywood Legends.
Wayne would attend Mass, “on his knees,” said A.J. Fenady. Hollywood’s greatest star could be found inside the church at Balboa Island sans toupee, forcing the priest to do a double-take. “Yes, it’s me, Father,” said Duke, who was given the grace of a deathbed conversion. Actress Patricia Neal also waited until just before she left this earth to become a Catholic.
Dunaway was formally admitted to the Catholic Church after her iconic status was cast in stone with Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and the aforementioned Chinatown. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of power-hungry Diana Christensen in Network (1977) – in which Dunaway says she had to portray “her lack of soul”
“She was tragic in my view,” said Dunaway in the HBO Max documentary Faye (2024).
In need of prayer
Asked by Gifford if her “personal faith” has been as “source of comfort,” Dunaway said, “I go to Mass. I try to go every day. I get inspired. I feel better about everything. And I pray a lot.”
Asked what she prays about, Dunaway responded:
“My son, most of all — that he will be well. And I ask God to take care of him and keep him safe. And guidance for me.”
That son, Liam Dunaway O’Neil, has in turn taken care of his mother, helping lighten her burdens.
When she played Lou Andreas Sand in the film Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970), “I was able to relate to this character,” who was, at times, confused. The movie was based on a top model, who as Dunaway said in the HBO doc, “owned the city.” Like Sand, “I had periods where I was very depressed and I was very moody and actually have … a bipolar diagnosis,” said Dunaway. Kazan once said that she “walked around in a cloud of drama.”
As Dunaway described her experience:
“It’s a very real thing. It’s bi-polar. It’s manic- depressive … another name for this illness. And it’s an imbalance, a biological imbalance. You can be up high. You can be manic. You can be very depressed … so I do have mood swings … it was happening early on … and they only grew more evident as I grew later in my life.”
Treatment and a new beginning
Liam knew his mother always had these challenges, but “it wasn’t until a couple years ago,” when he witnessed his mother enduring some “really hard, hard times” that he suggested she might consult a clinic in Boston. “She came out like a whole new person,” Liam said.
“I worked with a group of doctors who analyzed my behavior,” recalled Dunaway. They prescribed medications “so I am quieter... Throughout my career, people know that there were tough times.”
She added:
“I don’t mean to make an excuse about it. I’m still responsible for my actions. But this is what I came to understand was the reason for them. It’s something you need to be aware of and you need try to do the right thing to take care of it.”
In recent years, Faye Dunaway has moved back to New York from West Hollywood. She has also worked to confront her demons, and I say more power to her on this day when she celebrates yet another year of her amazing life.
